The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Apple tree, botanically known as Malus domestica Borkh. of the Rosaceae family, and hereinafter referred to by the variety denomination ‘Imara’.
The new Malus variety is a product of a controlled breeding program conducted by the inventor(s), Inge De Wit, Hendrik Eyssen, Johan Keulemans, Johan Nicolaï, Els Pauwels and Paul Van Laer, in Rillaar, Belgium. The objective of the breeding program was to develop a new Malus variety with scab resistance, good taste and texture, as well as good storage capacity and shelf life.
The new Malus variety originated from a cross made by the inventor(s) in 1990 in Belgium. The female or seed parent is the Malus domestica variety designated ‘LIBERTY’ (unpatented). The male or pollen parent is the Malus domestica variety designated ‘GRANNY’ (unpatented). The new Malus variety was discovered and selected by the inventors within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in 1998 in Belgium.
Asexual reproduction of the new Malus variety by grafting onto rootstocks was first performed in the winter of 2008-2009 in Belgium, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new variety are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new variety reproduces true to type.